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jszrules · Feb 11, 2012, 02:01 PM

It looks like the next MBPs will indeed follow the MBA trend (solid state, no optical drive, etc.). This is not surprising, but nice to finally hear. Ivy Bridge is supposed to ship in April. Thoughts on when these new MBPs will ship?

Apple to disrupt notebook space with radically redesigned MacBook Pros

Spheric Harlot · Feb 11, 2012, 03:02 PM

Sometime between when Ivy Bridge ships and the second coming of Christ.

mattyb · Feb 11, 2012, 03:44 PM

Why the Lounge?

euphras · Feb 11, 2012, 05:08 PM

My first reaction: i would be p***** when the pro line drops the optical bay, but when i´m honest, mostly i´m only using it to watch DVDs. Hopefully the matte screens will return (not only as a BTO option).

moonmonkey · Feb 11, 2012, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by mattyb

Why the Lounge?

Are you new here?

The Godfather · Feb 11, 2012, 05:30 PM

If Jobsian timing is honored, Macbooks are released nowhere close the the beginning of the school year, only to be sweetened with a free printer in August-September, after the recalls have been ironed out. So yeah, expect a Macbook after in October, with no Ivy Bridge.

jmiddel · Feb 11, 2012, 06:27 PM

I'll be majorly pissed if there is no regular HD option. I don't want to schlepp an external around for all my data and don't need almost instant boot, since I don't turn it off. And I won't spend $770 to get a 480 SSD.

mduell · Feb 11, 2012, 07:18 PM

I'm not a fan of the poor weight balance and sharp front edge of the MBA design. I'll continue to buy wintel laptops personally (like my last 11.6") if they convert the MBP form factor and don't address these issues.

The Godfather · Feb 11, 2012, 07:19 PM

How would you feel if the MBP wound up with a lower resolution than an iPad?

jmiddel · Feb 12, 2012, 04:41 PM

I thought the buzz was that the new MBPs are going to have retina. That way I could stop using 17" models and use the 15" one at high res.

OreoCookie · Feb 12, 2012, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by moonmonkey

Are you new here?

mattyb is right, why the Lounge? This clearly belongs in the Mac Notebooks forum.

Back on topic: although I don't expect Apple to quadruple the resolution (the current highr-res options gives you 1650x1050 pixels, 3300x2100 seems unfeasible), I do expect we'll see an ultra high-res 15" model that puts Lion's high-res functionality to good use.

SierraDragon · 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by jmiddel

I'll be majorly pissed if there is no regular HD option. I don't want to schlepp an external around for all my data and don't need almost instant boot, since I don't turn it off. And I won't spend $770 to get a 480 SSD.

Fast boot is not the point at all; the point is greatly reduced latency with all applications. Laptop HDDs perform poorly, so SSD is a very energy and cost effective way to improve laptop performance, by a lot.

Expect (hope) that all new Macs have boot SSDs, with also a HDD option as a second internal drive on the higher-end boxes.

-Allen

SierraDragon · Feb 12, 2012, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by The Godfather

How would you feel if the MBP wound up with a lower resolution than an iPad?

So what? Who cares? The MBP already has lower resolution than an iPhone. Each device should be optimized for its own purposes.

-Allen

OreoCookie · Feb 12, 2012, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by SierraDragon

So what? Who cares? The MBP already has lower resolution than an iPhone. Each device should be optimized for its own purposes.

One shouldn't forget about average working distances: if the eyes are farther from a screen, then one does not need 300 dpi to ensure text appears sharper.

jmiddel · Feb 12, 2012, 06:20 PM

SD, I agree. I see 2 categories of users. The first, needs this increase in speed, and are willing to settle for fewer features (optical, FW, Ethernet, huge size HDs) to get faster and very high-end performance, eg via Thunderbolt. This surely is the future, and I hope that we will have SSDs at $79 for 1 T (price of my pre Thailand flood 1T 2.5 Toshiba). In the meantime a second bunch of users need all the stuff excluded, because speed is not an issue, but versatility is. Eg, must I+ bring an external HD with me for data, of which I have a bunch? SSDs with my size needs are $780 for the cheapest quality on OWC. The dual option you mention should not be high end. Just have a bay for the HD, make it accessible, I'll take care of the rest.

Another concern with having a boot SSD and a regular HD, how would I backup a single disk image to a cloned drive? Seems to me that I need to have everything on one volume to create a bootable backup.

SierraDragon · 01:06 AM

Originally Posted by jmiddel

The dual option you mention should not be high end. Just have a bay for the HD, make it accessible, I'll take care of the rest.

Which is exactly the situation now. An Apple SSD for $100 and add whatever third party mass storage you like (up to a TB) into the optical drive slot. And then there are all these crazy folks wanting Apple to change the MBP format!

Frankly it pisses me off folks wanting case change just for the sake of change. The Sandy Bridge MBPs _rock_ as is, and I doubt if the next case version will be better for power users. No way.

But whatever else, the only way any laptop should be built is with SSD for boot and apps. Period (except for hybrids too).

Another concern with having a boot SSD and a regular HD, how would I backup a single disk image to a cloned drive? Seems to me that I need to have everything on one volume to create a bootable backup.

I have no idea what you are talking about here. Dealing with multiple drives is very straightforward.

-Allen

Waragainstsleep · Feb 13, 2012, 05:19 AM

I think Apple's vision for a thin MacBook Pro is an SSD, no optical and whatever mass storage you need added via Thunderbolt, be it a single GoFlex drive or a Promise Pegasus. Maybe a TB optical if you really need one too.

P · Feb 13, 2012, 05:40 AM

The ideal solution would be one where there is a large HDD with a generous chunk of flash to use as cache for important files, all of it managed by the OS. The flash does not have to come as an SSD - in fact, something like the shape of the flash drive in the MBA seems much more logical.

Waragainstsleep · Feb 15, 2012, 06:07 AM

Originally Posted by P

The flash does not have to come as an SSD - in fact, something like the shape of the flash drive in the MBA seems much more logical.

Thats where I see them going, but once you remove the optical drive the HDD is the limiting factor on the thickness of the housing so I think they'll ditch that too in favour of external for those who need it.

Nergol · Feb 15, 2012, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by P

The flash does not have to come as an SSD - in fact, something like the shape of the flash drive in the MBA seems much more logical.

I'm not sure about that. At some point, the question that Apple will face is what exactly is the difference between an MBA and an MBP? One thing that makes a "Pro" machine "Pro" is a greater degree of customizability and upgradeability. Yes, I know that OWC has some upgrade options for the SSD in the MBA, but retaining a standard 2.5" drive slot, Apple would provide the customer with a lot more options.

OreoCookie · Feb 15, 2012, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by Nergol

I'm not sure about that. At some point, the question that Apple will face is what exactly is the difference between an MBA and an MBP? One thing that makes a "Pro" machine "Pro" is a greater degree of customizability and upgradeability.

»Pro« has been a marketing moniker for a long time: lots of people were using Pro machines at home while others were making a living with »non-pro« machines. MacBook Pros allow you to upgrade RAM and mass storage. If a future 15" Air were to allow me to upgrade RAM and the SSD »stick«, it would have the same expandability than the current 15" and 17" Pros (save for the possibility to take out the optical drive and put in more mass storage).

Originally Posted by Nergol

Yes, I know that OWC has some upgrade options for the SSD in the MBA, but retaining a standard 2.5" drive slot, Apple would provide the customer with a lot more options.

If it is a question of standards, MacBook Air-style SSD »sticks« have become a standard, too. So Apple would migrate from one standard to another. And I expect that in the future, Thunderbolt will close the gap between Air and Pro line.

Waragainstsleep · Feb 15, 2012, 10:14 AM

Yes, Pro will just come to mean 15" or 17" Air. Maybe they'll just drop the Pro and the Air altogether and stick to MacBook.

OreoCookie · Feb 15, 2012, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep

Yes, Pro will just come to mean 15" or 17" Air. Maybe they'll just drop the Pro and the Air altogether and stick to MacBook.

That's what I was thinking. Apple's vision is quite clear here, they've said it during the introduction of the new MacBook Air: »Soon, all notebooks will look like this!« And then they told what that means: SSD storage, no optical drive, lighter, smaller (slimmer), etc.

SierraDragon · Feb 15, 2012, 03:16 PM

Fully agreed, +1.

Personally I am glad I got the 2011 MBP that still has the optical bay for a second mass storage device. The extra space will tide me over until the cost of large SSDs falls some more.

-Allen

Nergol · Feb 15, 2012, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

If it is a question of standards, MacBook Air-style SSD »sticks« have become a standard, too.

Feel free to point it out if I'm missing something, but I can't think of a single machine that uses them other than the MBA, nor a single third-party manufacturer other than OWC.

That doesn't make for much of a "standard".

mduell · Feb 15, 2012, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by Nergol

Feel free to point it out if I'm missing something, but I can't think of a single machine that uses them other than the MBA, nor a single third-party manufacturer other than OWC.

That doesn't make for much of a "standard".

Many MacBook Air class machines (netbooks) use "stick" SSDs. It was mostly mPCIe for a while but some are mSATA like the MBA now.

Spheric Harlot · Feb 16, 2012, 03:03 AM

Intel Delaying Mass Availability of Ivy Bridge Processors Until 'After June'? - Mac Rumors

P · Feb 16, 2012, 04:19 AM

Intel's having problems, it seems. I don't think that that affects MBP updates, though - I think they are first in line. iMacs and MBAs may be affected, however.

Waragainstsleep · Feb 16, 2012, 05:44 AM

Originally Posted by Nergol

Feel free to point it out if I'm missing something, but I can't think of a single machine that uses them other than the MBA, nor a single third-party manufacturer other than OWC.

That doesn't make for much of a "standard".

Both Samsung and Toshiba makes them, mostly for Apple but I'm sure they'll sell them elsewhere too if asked and that will hinge on whether or not the latest batch of Wintel ~~MacBook Air rip-offs~~ Ultrabooks sell or not.